2021 was the start of it all.

After surviving the preceding 14 months, it was a clear and easy decision that I wasn’t going to go out with a whimper while lying in a bed attached to a ventilator. I needed something to resurrect my foundational need for nomadic exploration. With the project firmly established, I spent hours researching and multiple weekends searching for and finally finding my first bike. 

As a returning rider, the MSF course was useful but not overly challenging and I spent the rest of the year getting practice miles under my wheels. I approached this new wanderlust activity like the challenging sport it is. 

With that in mind, all of my previous athletic endeavours had been honed with the coaching from accomplished professional. This was no different. I searched for the best-of-the-best and was able to get a spot with Yamaha Champions Riding School (www.ridelikeachampion.com) and attended ChampStreet, their one-day immersive training session that takes ANY rider to the next level of ability and safety. It was the most important thing I could have done to reduce my risk and increase my enjoyment over the coming thousands of miles, and for less than the cost of a good helmet!

From the beginning, I tracked all the rides on REVER (www.rever.co)and wrote a summary… sometimes brief, sometimes quite involved. I got more focused and more descriptive as the miles piled on.

It was a very familiar exercise… like writing in the daily log on board the boat. Except this was more visceral and less factual details about weather, tide, wind, sea state, lat/lon, etc. though I do include useful info regarding the types of roads, a few directional recommendations and thoughts along the way.